Kiel Opera House Redevelopment On Track

The $70 million renovation proposal calls for a 3,500 seat theater, another small theatre, a restaurant, and conference rooms.The
investment group includes Blues owner Dave Checketts and McEagle
Properties. They's seeking $30 million in city amusement taxes on Blues
tickets be diverted for bond payments on the project.Alderman Fred Wessels co-sponsored legislation in the Board of Alderman Friday.Wessels says the investment group hopes to open the opera house by December of next year, which he calls ambitious.

I have an email into Wessels inquiring about the possibility of this redesigned venue hosting music events, like the adjacent (and now-demolished) Kiel Auditorium used to. (Our art director, Tom Carlson, mentioned seeing Elvis Costello, Squeeze, the Police, Frank Zappa and A Flock of Seagulls there.) Having this venue in the city might prove to be interesting, because it's not a stretch to say that the renovated theater would compete with the 4500-seat capacity Fabulous Fox for events. More info about the proposed deal can be found here.